


If the collar fits, wear it

by oursisthefury



Category: The Wolf Among Us
Genre: Work In Progress, get ready for Bigby being sad and angry, plus added bonus of asshole fables
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 03:06:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8384833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oursisthefury/pseuds/oursisthefury
Summary: People are scared of Bigby after the Crooked Man affair and they come up with a solution to their fears. Based on what happened when I finished the game.





	

"Hey, Bigby!" A familiar and not always welcomed voice called and woke the wolf up from a peaceful rest. Bigby sighed, opening his eyes and glaring down at Collin. "Yes?" He demanded grouchily. "Geez, no need to bite my head off but your phone keeps ringing and it's been a real disturbance to me personally. Don't you think that whatever it is, it might be important?" the pig pointed out. "I don't why they keep calling, if you're not up, you're not up, even if it is the middle of the day..." Collin smirked at the sheriff. "Middle of the day?" The wolf groaned, and so it was when he looked at the clock. The phone began to ring again. "Go get it already." The pig said. "It just won't stop ringing." Bigby got up from his chair and answered the phone with a stifled yawn, "Yes?" He said a little too harshly and Collin made a face.

"Bigby, I've been calling for a while now..." Snow's voice sounded strained and anxious. "Why didn't you pick up?" She asked. "I was sleeping," He told her. "You could've just came over to my house, I don't bite." His response didn't get a chuckle like he had hoped or at least some form of relaxation from Snow. The line was silent for a bit. "Just get over here, it's important, there's been a council meeting." And with that, she hung up without letting him get a word in or even saying goodbye. He frowned, putting down the phone. A council meeting without him? What could it mean? Immediately he was on high alert. Collin sensed his tenseness. "What's wrong, Bigby?" He asked. "There was a council meeting. Without me." He stated. "Did you know anything about it?" He asked the pig. Collin just shrugged, "you know I'm not one for politics, Bigby." He replied earnestly. Bigby didn't linger much longer in his apartment, he was out the door and down to town hall, preparing himself for something he had no clue about just yet.

Today, there were no fables waiting at the door which he marked as unusual. Usually they were there demanding things from Snow and giving him nasty looks as he cut by them. When he happened to cast his eyes on them, they shrank and he could smell their fear. It was just like old times except more civilized. Now today it did not smell of fear out in the hall, it smelled of foreboding; a smell he did not care for. He gripped the door handle so tightly that he thought it would break and he opened the door into Snow's office and was greeted with many eyes on him, all projecting something he did not know.

He scanned the room quickly and found that more people than he had thought there would be were there even Jack whom he didn't recall being included in any council meetings at all. He glared suspiciously at all of them and directed his attention at Snow. All his senses screamed that something was awry and his anxiety was building, manifesting into rage.

"Oh, you're here." She said sounding startled , she stood up and moved towards him, away from her desk. "I-" He cut her off, purely by accident but it did not sit well with the crowd he noted. "What is it? What's so important?" He demanded gruffly. "Why was I not invited to this council meeting?" He snarled. Snow looked nervous, "It's complicated," she admitted, pulling at her jacket. "Complicated?" He repeated coldly. "Tell me what you called me down here for." He demanded, he was not in the mood for pleasantries even with Snow especially not since it seemed like she had been avoiding him lately, perhaps because of this. "I- it's about your behavior." She answered honestly and nervously. "What?" His temper flared. "What about my behavior?" Someone in the crowd snorted at his exclamation and sent all of them a scathing look.

Snow White looked exasperated. "People are scared, Bigby." She told him. He bit back the urge to reply 'When aren't they?'. "Ever since you.." She trailed off, unsure of how to start up again. "The incident with The Crooked Man." His blood ran cold, of course, that had had to be the reason for all this shadiness. The incident with the Crooked Man had not been his best nor had anything before that been good, but he had done the incident in front of a lot of people and even he knew that it had been the wrong move. It was one thing to throw a man down the wishing well, but ripping a mans head off was another thing, but he had been so full of rage during that case and it had dealt a definite blow to his already rocky reputation.

"I made a mistake." He admitted as he stood guilty before the makeshift jury. "I was angry and I let my emotions get the best of me.." Although the Crooked Man had triggered this anger in its purest form by stupidly trying to use the wolf as a means of escape. And the big bad wolf was not one to be used so simply. "Don't expect me to stand here and lament though, the Crooked Man was a problem and I dealt with him." He stated staying true to himself. "What about the way you dealt with Dum?" A voice piped up from the crowd. "Was he really such a problem?" Bigby resisted the urge to roll his eyes, did everyone get an advocate in this damn town? "As a matter of fact, he was. He was helping criminals out and he attacked me on more than one occasion, he wounded Gren and Holly with his brother as an accomplice, if I remember correctly. The Crooked Man was also dealt with in a justified manner as with Dum." He argued for his case but the crowd didn't seem to be buying it and neither did Snow. 

There was a snort of laughter from the crowd and it parted so Jack could come forward. "I also remember that you wounded Gren far worse than Dum or Dee, you ripped his arm off." He reminded the sheriff and Bigby wanted to knock him the fuck out for looking at him with that smug know it all look. "And justified? I hardly think you can call police brutality justified," Hack pointed out and there were murmurs of agreement from the group. So far Bigby was not winning any votes. This time he was the one who was cut off, "I think you just look for an excuse to be big and bad." Jack continued, jabbing Bigby with everything he had. He could only stand there as the room began to target him, each one wanting to rip into him.

"Enough!" Snow ordered, "We didn't call him here so we could do this. We called him here for something else." "Yes, let's stop this incessant squabbling." Bluebeard agreed, coming forward, with his usual smug grin. "We have a more important manner at hand." If only they would tell him what it was. "Time for you to get yours, /dog/." The insult hit him like a bullet, the slur seemed to hold a lot more power than it originally had held, and he felt the hair on the back of his raise. "Collar him." Someone whispered. "Dog." Another said. "Dog." "Dog." "/Dog/." "/Dog/!" So many whispers that erupted into chanting, so many voices for such a small group. 

"Stop!" Snow ordered again, trying to stop the crowd, and possibly Bigby. "I'm sorry, Bigby." She said, teary eyed. "It's what the town wanted.." She turned to Bluebeard. "Go get Aunty Greenleaf." He obediently ran to fetch her. "What's going on?" Bigby snapped, lips peeling at the crowd, the chanting had gone down to whispers again, and the room had an eery feeling. "Dammit, Snow! Tell me!" He roared, he could feel himself wanting to jump at everyone and tear them down. His claws had spurted, so had his teeth and he could feel his eyes burning with their intense glow. 

The crowd quieted when Bluebeard returned with the witch following him. She had in her hands a box with ancient inscriptions on it, it practically glowed with magic. He shifted uneasily and watched her come forward. The witch took her position next to Snow and Snow regained her composure. He could only stand there as Snow opened the box, and inside on a velvet cushion, there lay something that could only be mistaken as a collar. It was silver with images of black wolves on it with glowing gold eyes and it had a strong aura. A perfect collar for keeping a dog like him down.

He reeled back from it and his anger was burning intensely. In fact all emotions for him were at their extremes, he was betrayed, hurt and furious. He couldn't believe this treatment. "What the fuck?" He growled, baring his teeth. "You can't be serious." The wolf inside of him wanted desperately to come out at this time. "I'm not fucking wearing that." 

Snow looked pained. "It's either this or we have no choice to lock you up. The collar limits your abilities, it keeps the wolf at bay, and that was the decision we agreed upon. This is something that will make everyone feel safe." The way she said wolf made him feel like it was something that wasn't a part of him, she referred to it as an invader, when it was who he was. "Fuck the towns decision!" He barked, "Try and put that on me and you'll wish you hadn't decided on it in the first place." He threatened, leering at the crowd. "This is what we're talking about." Snow commented, "This anger that you have. Before we even brought this out, you were getting angry and transforming. You can win us all back if you do this, Bigby." She said trying to convince him. "It will just be a minor change." Bigby scoffed, "Minor? I'll have a fucking dog collar around my neck!" He snapped at her so harshly that she flinched. "All of you can go fuck yourselves!" The wolf turned to leave but Snow called to him, and then he knew that he had no choice. "If you do this," she said, "We're done, Bigby, for good." The thought of losing her was too great, and he was defeated, spread apart for all the world to see.

"Do it." He ordered, his anger subsiding, turning into hopelessness. "Put it on me." Snow White tentatively lifted the ornate collar from its perch and crossed over to him. "I'm sorry.." She whispered in his ear as she placed the cold metal around his neck and clasped it shut. Now he was nothing but a dog, and a broken one at that. The silver stung for a moment but the collar felt heavy around his neck, he pulled at it, but it did not budge. "Only I can remove it." She said as she backed away. "Only I have the key." He looked at her blankly, trying to mask his emotions. The chanting rang in his ears. He was alone.

They had ruined him.


End file.
